The Best No Booking Restaurants in London

Restaurants That Are Worth The Wait!

While we would always recommend booking restaurants in advance to secure the best tables, but if you have to queue, make sure the restaurant is worth the wait! Read on for our guide to The Best No Booking Restaurants in London.

Spuntino – Soho

Spuntino is our favourite of Russell Norman’s Polpo empire with a menu and design reminiscent of New York with its various sliders and Mac’n’Cheese dishes.

Spuntino makes a great destination for a late night bite in Soho where you can sit at the counter with your Negroni and be thankful for the low lighting and a clientèle that won’t judge. Spuntino is one of our favourite no booking restaurants in London, for sure.

Morito – Exmouth Market

The owners of Moro, the acclaimed Spanish restaurant on Clerkenwell’s Exmouth Market, have opened a small tapas bar, Morito, right next door to their main restaurant.

This is one of our favourite tapas bars in London and definitely worth a visit. Reserved for walk-ins only, this is one of the best no booking restaurants in London

Blacklock, Soho

Specialising in Chops and only chops, this is a new Soho favourite. Order the “all-in” that gives you a mix of lamb, pork and beef chops served on a char grilled flat bread that soaks up all the juices – beautiful!

Opera Tavern – Covent Garden

The most recent restaurant from the team behind Salt Yard and Dehesa, Opera Tavern in Covent Garden saves its downstairs tables and counter seats for walk-ins.

Located in a renovated pub, the Spanish restaurant and tapas bar retains some of the building’s original features, and the exposed bricks and low lighting create a relaxed, intimate feel.

Polpo – Soho, Covent Garden, Smithfield

The original Polpo was based in Soho and has now spawned a few siblings across London, including the new Polpo Smithfield, each offering Italian sharing plates based on Venetian bacaros with exposed brickwork, low lighting and cool, young waiters.

Polpo Soho was the original no bookings restaurant in London.

Burger & Lobster – Mayfair, Soho and Clerkenwell

From the people behind the Goodman steak restaurants, Burger & Lobster serves, you guessed it, burgers and lobsters, each priced at £20.

The original site in Mayfair has recently been joined by a sibling on Dean Street in Soho with a new site in Clerkenwell on St John Street due later this year, all designed by designLSM.

Brasserie Zedel – Piccadilly Circus

Hot on the heels of The Delaunay, Chris Corbin and Jeremy King launched Brasserie Zedel in Soho at the end of June as ‘a large, bustling Parisian brasserie transported to the heart of London’.

While the room is grand and impressive (designed by David Collins Studio), the food is more casual and very reasonably priced – just as a brasserie should be.

The dining room is vast and has over 200 covers, half of which are reserved for walk-ins. The size of the room makes it one of London’s most accessible no bookings restaurants.

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Emyr Thomas

Founder

Emyr is the founder of Bon Vivant and one of the main contributors to the luxury lifestyle and travel blog. Emyr has always had a passion for travel, dining out and trying new places, and you can be sure that if there’s a new restaurant or hotel opening, he’s there at the bar with a glass of champagne.